Level 8 Arena 8 Deck Spotlight: Defensive Rocket

Background Information

This is one of my personal decks that I used at the early stages of Level 8. When playing this deck, the user has to keep in mind how much elixir will be spent as this is a high cost deck. Additionally, this deck is a defensive oriented, meaning most damage will come through the use of effective spells. This deck may not be for everyone, but it has been proven to work. Take note that this deck also goes for one Crown victories and then draws out the remaining time. If you want to have a high three Crown ratio, this may not be the deck for you.

Basics: Average Elixir and How To Use Each Troop Effectively

This deck is 4.8 elixir average and contains the following cards:

Troops: used for defense and offense. Important to use the right counter for each troop.

Barbarians– This card costs 5 Elixir. This is best used to counter Princes, P.E.K.K.A, and the Hog Rider. They are also extremely helpful distraction for smaller troops that can do major damage if left untouched, like the Minions, Spear Goblins and the Goblin combo. The Barbarians can also help defend against the Dark Prince if the situation is desperate, but is not recommended counter since the Dark Prince is a pretty good Barbarian destroyer. If the Barbarians are set on top of the much feared Sparky, they can easily destroy it, and you will gain a major Elixir advantage. These four mighty men are also your biggest tanks. If you do want to launch a major offensive push, it is best to use them as the meat shield, or tanks of your push. If they do get to the tower unnoticed they can easily destroy it. In my opinion, the Barbarians are one of the biggest staple cards in the game.

Minion Horde– Another great value for only 5 Elixir. If the opponent doesn’t have Arrows, and especially if they have neither the Arrows or Fireball spell card, you will wreck havoc with these bad boys. They can clean up pretty much any card your opponent throws at you. Prince? The minion horde will take care of it most of the time before it gets to the tower. Double prince? The Minions along with the barbarians will have enough damage to stop them dead, and they have to deal with an onslaught of Minions and half health barbarians. They also easily take out P.E.K.K.A, the Balloon, and much more. The Minion Horde can kill a Sparky before your opponent has time to throw the Arrows. Minion Horde is another staple card in my mind. A deck should always have at least one, the Minions or the Minion Horde.

Goblin Barrel-In my opinion, it is the highlight of the deck. It can easily do 700 damage to a Tower if the opponent can’t react to it. Also, you can make your opponent waste Elixir with this card. If you know your opponent has Arrows or a Fireball, off set the barrel’s landing area a little away from the Tower to make them miss entirely. Paired up with the Minion Horde and Poison, the Tower would be down in no time. Also, complemented with the Rocket, it can sneak past the enemy radar. All the opponent sees is the rocket, but underneath is a surprise. The goblin barrel is flying to the tower, doing at least 300 damage, Sometimes the opponent panics and sends a fireball or arrows just in time to kill one or two goblins, giving yourself a major advantage. For the cost of 4 Elixir only, this card can wreck havoc and give your enemy night mares. Some combos with this card has also led to great replays and close clutches.

Towers: used for defense. Important to use the right counter for the type of troop.

Bomb Tower-This card is what I would call your foundation defense. If its in your hand, play it once you get max Elixir. This card provides big value on defense and can help intimidate your opponent from an aggressive assault. This card also works magic against hut spammers, Barbarians, Hog Rider and Goblin pushes. The opponent may also send out a Minion Horde to destroy the bomb tower. Sending a Fireball to kill the Minion Horde will not only protect the precious Tower, but also let you gain an Elixir advantage. Since no Elixir Collector is present, this card, when on the field, will give you a little Elixir defense bonus. This also works well as a tank since its health points are very high, like any building after the May Third update, you should be weary if the opponent has a Royal Giant as it can out range most defensive buildings.

Inferno Tower– This is what you would consider the surprise card in this deck. You should wait until it is absolutely necessary to play this card because if you play it right off the bat, they can destroy it and push hard with high health point tanks. This would result in an immediate loss of a Tower. If they push with a P.E.K.K.A or Golem, you should wait until it is at the bridge and then place down the Inferno, giving them little time to respond to it. I usually have my Fireball ready as most P.E.K.K.A or Golem users like to distract the Inferno Tower with a Minion Horde. If the Inferno Tower does fall, Barbarians or the Minion Horde can finish up the Golem or the P.E.K.K.A . Like any building after the May Third update, you should be weary if the opponent has a Royal Giant as it can out range most defensive buildings.

Direct Damage: used mainly on Towers or other structures. Important to maximize damage through the use of combos whether it be Tower+troop or Tower+structure. Keep in mind that you can do about 800 damage by combing Poison, Fireball, and Rocket. This can help with a clutch win.

Fireball– This is the main spell you will counter great basses of weak and semi tank troops. This card hard counters Barbarians and Minion Horde. It can also be used against the Crown Tower when combos are present or on hut spam decks. Using on huts is not recommended as Poison will do a much better work.

Poison-The best spell against weak troops placed at the back or hut spam decks. It can also be sent against the Crown Tower when combos are present. The reason why it is better to use Poison on maybe a Princess or Minion Horde spawned at the back is because they aren’t immediate threats. You should kill them with a damage over time spell because if immediate danger occurs later, the Fireball can save your Tower. This also works well against hut spam decks because it not only destroys part of the huts whether it be Tombstone, Goblin Hut, or Barbarian Hut, but also kills or weakens the following troops that come out for the next 10 seconds. This doesn’t seem like a lot but it could be the difference of a win and a lose. Poison also slows the attack speed of opposing troops so it can help on defense as well.

Rocket– Best card to use against extremely good tower combos. The best combos are the following: Tower and Wizard, Tower and Musketeer, Tower and Sparky, Tower and Elixir Collector, and other units that cost a lot and will either die or almost die to the Rocket. This puts you only one Elixir down (in most cases), but you get to stop their momentum and do 400 damage to their Crown Tower which is well worth it. Rockets can do about 500 damage to a Tower, which will be quite worth it in the last seconds of a battle.

About The Author

I am a Clash Royale player since the end of January during the soft launch. To this day, I remain a free to play player with a knowledgeable outlook on many different types of strategies. At level 8 I reached the peak of 3424, at level 9 I reached 3647, and now I'm sitting well over 4000 trophies. I love sharing strategies, decks, and other useful information by writing blog posts for you guys.